The present invention relates to a resistance type exercise device, and more particularly, to an exercise device that uses frictional forces between members to provide resistance for a variety of different exercises, including an exercise using the back-and-forth translational movement of the arms to provide fixed or variable resistance to the muscles of the body.
Health and fitness are of paramount importance to many peoplexe2x80x94young and old. Some of the most popular activities to improve physical fitness and health include walking, running, jogging, skating, or some other lower body intensive activity. Although these activities improve cardiovascular fitness and exercise the lower body, they do not provide substantial exercise for the upper body.
Various exercise devices have been proposed that are intended as accessories in walking, jogging, resistance training or aerobics, and are well known in the prior art. Some of these devices rely on the user to provide resistance. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,441,707 (Bosch) discloses an exercise belt for aerobic activities. The belt encircles the waist and houses a flexible line which terminates at each end in a handle. However, this device does not have any means of imparting resistance to the line. Instead, the user must supply his own resistance by pushing forward on one handle while resisting the backward movement of the other handle. Therefore, it is difficult for the user of this device to maintain a consistent resistance throughout the range of motion during an extended time period of use.
Some attempts have been made to provide a workout device which imparts resistance to the user. As shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,557,480; 4,174,832; 4,114,875; and 3,885,789. These devices all provide rotatable pulleys having a length of cord operatively wound thereabout and provide the necessary resistance to unwinding the exercise cord by either establishing a compressive force against the cord itself or by winding the cord about one or a series of capstands. Such structural limitations give rise to various operational limitations and further cause the exercise cord to wear excessively during the use of the exercise device, thus reducing the efficiency and life of the exercise device. One skilled in the art will readily recognize that the prior art methods of providing resistance to the unwinding of the exercise cord militates against accurate adjustment of the resistance as well as limiting the degree of resistance which can be attained.
Other devices rely on cables and pulleys to provide resistance. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,618,249; 5,795,274; 4,779,866; and 5,876,310 provides a frictional force against a pulley or cable spool to impart resistance against the rotational movement of the pulley by a flexible cord or cable. Other devices, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,733,231 impart a biasing resistance to the pulley or spool by the uses of a spiral coiled spring. Although some of these devices provide variable resistance, one of skill in the art would similarly recognize that these devices militate against accurate adjustment of the resistance, as well as limiting the degree of resistance which can be attained. In addition, the components used to achieve the resistance have structural limitation which often lead to the failure of such mechanisms. Coil springs that are used to provide resistance can be easily over wound causing fatigue or failure. Similarly, friction disks and pulley devices can be warped or fail under high compressive loading.
What is need is a resistance type exercise device that can provide a simple and reliable resistance to rotational movement imparted on a pulley.
What is also needed is a resistance type exercise device that can provide accurate adjustment of friction forces.
It is an object of the present invention to solve the above stated limitations of traditional exercise devices. To accomplish these objectives, the resistance exercise device of the instant invention comprises a housing, including a base housing, a top cover, and a hub shaft. The top cover covers the base housing to form an enclosure. The hub shaft is joined to an inside surface of the base housing and oriented substantially perpendicular to the inside surface of the base housing so as to project towards the top cover.
A pull cord capable of substantially translation movement upon receiving a pull force is also included. The pull cord is wound about a cord wheel when in the retraced position. The cord wheel is rotatably mounted on the hub shaft in the housing allowing for the conversion of the substantially translational movement of the pull cord to rotational motion.
A brake drum rotatably mounted on the hub shaft in the housing is also included. The brake drum is concentrically oriented with the cord wheel, and capable of interfacing with and rotating with the cord wheel by means of an interface mechanism. A brake lever is mounted to the housing and contacts the brake drum, providing frictional resistance to the rotation of the brake drum.
A recoil mechanism is also included and attached between the cord wheel and housing for recoiling the pull cord on the cord wheel during retraction.